Welcome back to our series, “The Ten-Minute-Job-Search”. We’ve designed it to spare you from the self-harm and guilt that comes when time gets away from you and your job hunt. So just when you’re about to shut your hand in that drawer to atone just read on!

So your fledgling network is off the ground and humming. You’re adding people as you go and learning how LinkedIn works. One of the really useful parts of LinkedIn is that it will continually guide you on building your profile. Listen to it and do what it says, paying close attention to the headline and summary sections.

I was at a marketing communications breakfast presentation and talking with a friend who also happens to be a total rock star. He said something that really stuck with me, “If you need to start networking it’s probably too late.”

This applies to college seniors and recent graduates as much as it does to anyone already in the workforce. Second semester of your senior year is NOT the time to think about starting your network. You’re going to need to make contact, establish relationships and start a dialogue if you want any kind of network to pay off. And yes, you don’t know that many people in the profession you’ve chosen for yourself but unless you’re graduating from a Tibetan monastery you do know people.

So start early, add often and use it. Don’t let the thing die just because you got Netflix.

Are you derailing your career before it’s even begun? On the outside do you look like a gung-ho job seeker, sending out resumes, networking with a vengeance and plotting world domination while on the inside (and in reality) you’re hesitating, procrastinating and really only plotting your next Facebook post? It happens a lot more than you think and one reason can be sheer size of scope.

We are proud to debut a new blog series, "How I Stopped Worrying and Got the Job", guest posts from past workshop attendees, new acquaintances and other clever job seekers who used their noggins and landed their first job.

Jacklyn Cremer attended one of our first AfterSchool Career Workshops sessions and graduated from KU with a Bachelors in Marketing and now has a full-time job in account services at ER Marketing. More about her job search can be found at JacklynCremer.com. This is how she used the Internet to search more than job boards.

“You don’t stand a tinker’s chance of producing successful advertising unless you start by doing your homework. I have always found this extremely tedious, but there is no substitute for it. First study the product you are going to advertise. The more you know about it, the more likely you are to come up with a big idea for selling it.” – David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising.

As a marketer searching for a job, I was the product.

The hunt is about finding a job that really fits with what you want to do and will help you to reach your career goals. If you do your homework, then you will find a company, a job description, and a location that fits your interests and skills. When you know everything there is to know about the company and the position, it’s easy to let the company know that you are the right choice for the job!

Not everyone is cut out to be an employee. Some people would rather gnaw off their own foot than sign on to someone else’s rules, mission, and payroll. They’d just feel too trapped or like they’d sold out.

And not everyone who wants a job upon graduation will be able to find one quickly. The unemployment rate for young adults age 20 to 24 is uncomfortably high (15.4%, by a recent government estimate, compared to 8.9% for the general population).

So, what’s the alternative? Since minimum-wage jobs will generally not allow you to be self-supporting, some new graduates make the decision to become entrepreneurs, providing a basic service to individuals or businesses. And some do quite well, thank you, as either a freelancer or a dedicated business.

What are the qualities that help you succeed if this is the road you choose, or that chooses you?

When you get further along in your career, your track record is everything and can carry you far. But when you’re just graduating, to get a promising first job, you need to be able to convey clearly what you can do for your potential employer.

We geezers have called it the “elevator speech,” which has always been cheesy, even when it meant something (that you need to be able to get your message across to someone you meet in an elevator before you get to their floor). Lisa and I call it your Personal Marketing Statement, which is also not ideal but closer to accurate.

So let’s explore a little more about how you can land on the “must be interviewed” list with just what you say to introduce yourself, either in person, on the phone, or in email.